(Warning: This price is available for a limited time only! You’ll be part of the first class ever, with lifetime access to all content (including anything new I add in the future) and a discount for helping me perfect it! After this round, the price goes up — and I’m capping each course at around 20 people.)
You are not alone. But you might feel pretty alone.
After all, far too many people on the asexual spectrum have never met anyone like them face to face. Far too many survivors of sexual assault don’t know anyone else who’s ever mentioned being sexually assaulted, much less someone they can really talk to about it.
And a huge number of ace-spec people of all genders are in both of those groups.
But there is good news.
CPT, or Cognitive Processing Therapy, is one of the “gold standard” treatments for PTSD. It has successfully been shown to reduce or eliminate PTSD in everyone from military veterans to . Long-term follow-up studies have found that the resulting recovery from PTSD and depression remained stable even five and ten years after completing CPT.
As a survivor with 18+ years of active recovery from the effects of sexual abuse, I can vouch for the fact that it IS possible to recover. It IS possible to have a happy, joyful life.
As someone who has been using CPT on more recent traumas, I can vouch for the fact that it works.
There’s a PTSD assessment called the PCL-5. Shortly after the trauma, I had a PCL score of 55: “high to severe.”
A year later, when I started doing CPT, I had a score of 47: moderate to high.
The next week, it was 41. The week after that, it was 35. Still in the moderate to high range, but so much better. And the following week?
22.
“Low to moderate.” And that’s sub-clinical! Below the range for a PTSD diagnosis!
Not only that, but I could tell. I could tell that the trauma was having a significantly smaller impact on my everyday life. I was so much calmer, and so happy.
And the week after that… it dropped to 12.
That’s almost in the “minimal impact” range! I was only halfway through the CPT manual!
At the end of the course, my score was 1.
I promise that this is possible for you too.
Will it happen as quickly? Not necessarily. Remember, I had a lot of tools under my belt already; I’d been working on trauma and recovery for 18 years.
However, that also means I can share those tools with you. I’m here to problem-solve with you and support you. And I know that CPT consistently works for all kinds of people, with all kinds of backgrounds, because I’ve read study after study on it. I am no flash in the pan.
CPT is a highly structured, short program that gives you the skills you need to process and move through trauma safely.
A participant in one study said:
“Yeah, it was definitely the cognitive processing therapy. Like, I can’t recommend it enough for people, for whom it would be beneficial.… It was like, it was miraculous. I couldn’t even believe the words that are coming out of my mouth. It was just like suddenly my world just changed and it didn’t seem dangerous anymore and I could talk to men, like engage them in conversation without feeling threatened, and the hypervigilance was gone. The guilt was gone. I just, like, changed my perspective about what happened.”
So how does it work?
The basic ideas behind CPT are that trauma teaches us negative and inaccurate beliefs about ourselves, other people, and the world around us. And those beliefs influence or create our emotions.
To put it another way: being treated like shit tends to make people feel like shit.
In CPT, we start identifying negative/inaccurate beliefs we’ve gotten stuck in, and learn how to examine our own ideas to find the truth. In the process, our triggers, rage, and fear start to disappear. We naturally start reacting in ways that feel better to us, and feeling safer and better about ourselves.
One of the biggest things we can get stuck in is avoidance. Avoidance of anything that reminds of us our trauma, or involves looking at it. Watch out for that! It’s easy to drag your feet at first, or struggle with showing up and doing the work.
But if you just do a little tiny bit every day or two, in my experience it starts getting a lot better really quickly.
How does this specific class work?
Starting on Tuesday, September 28th, we meet over Zoom twice a week: Tuesdays at 3pm Pacific, and Fridays at 11am Pacific.
That might sound too fast-paced or busy. Don’t worry! I’ll share the recordings of each class right away for anyone who can’t make it in person. Each one will also be transcribed for accessibility. And you’ll have lifetime access to a Discord server where you can ask questions, get support, and make friends. (And studies show it’s even more effective when you do it twice a week than if you have to wait a week between each one.)
Class meetings don’t quite fit into your schedule? No problem. If you can make time to watch or read them after the fact, you can do this. I’ll check in with anyone who doesn’t make it to an in-person session, to make sure you’re getting what you need.
What do we do during each session? We talk about what it was like to practice the current CPT skill in our everyday lives. I help you with any parts you got stuck on or are unsure about. I teach you a new skill, or a new way to use the current skill, and walk you through it. And there’s also time for anyone who wants or needs to check in.
And you won’t have to wait until September 28th to get started. You’ll be able to join the Discord server, introduce yourself, take an online assessment to get a baseline PTSD score, and start exploring these concepts and skills through Discord chats and informative, encouraging emails.
Who can join?
Anyone who thinks that this course might help them, and is interested in joining an ace-focused group.
You do not have to tell me what happened, how old you were, or how you identify. You share only what you want or need to share.
You’ll feel so much happier, I guarantee it.
If you participate in the classes (either in real time, or by watching on your own and participating via the Discord) and do the homework, but you aren’t fully satisfied with your progress at the end, I’ll give you a 110% refund.
Even if you don’t want a refund, if your PTSD score hasn’t dropped at least below 20 by the end of the class, you can take the class again for free.
Remember, the price is going up after this cohort, and I’m only taking about twenty people per group!
And speaking of price: if the price would cause you to struggle to pay your bills or rent, or if you already do, please use code SCHOLARSHIP at checkout.